1986 was the 25th anniversary of Marvel Comics.More or less... That is, the company itself had existed since 1939, but it started calling itself Marvel in 1961; similarly, the comic that launched the Marvel Universe, Fantastic Four, had started publishing in November of that year.The Powers That Were decided that it was time for something new.

Thus, The New Universe was launched. It was a new imprint with new heroes operating in a new world. It aimed to be more realistic, with harder science and lower power levels than the regular Marvel Universe. The premise was that The New Universe was just like the real world until the Point of Divergence , a Mass Empowering Event called "The White Event", gave extraordinary powers to ordinary people all over the planet, which is why the line's slogan was "The World Outside Your Window".

Problems set in almost immediately. Some writers apparently didn't get the memo that The New Universe was supposed to be just like the real world up until The White Event introduced superpowers; they created comics with pre-existing magic realms, aliens, and powered armor suits as their premises. The line's budget was cut unexpectedly by Marvel Comics higher-ups. After the first year, four titles were canceled. Those in charge tried to salvage the line by having big shake-ups, such as "The Black Event", in which one of the paranormals accidentally destroys Pittsburgh, plunging America into war. Unfortunately, it was no longer "The World Outside Your Window", and readers continued to hemorrhage. In 1989, all The New Universe titles were cancelled.

In more recent years, the whole thing has been looked on with a kind of fondness, despite its Dork Age status in the eyes of readers. In fact, Dork Age status — in comics — can be an artistic asset, since the talent can make drastic experimental changes to such a property and there will be few complaints.

The New Universe was revisited in the pages of Quasar and Exiles. In February and March of 2006, Marvel published several Untold Tales of The New Universe, featuring new stories set before the Black Event. In December of 2006, a new series premiered, written by Warren Ellis and titled newuniversal. While based on The New Universe, it takes place in a fresh continuity, as well as a Parallel Universe where the differences include China being the dominant power in space exploration. Most of the characters are re-imagined to focus on the original's strengths. Sadly, the series lasted only ten issues before Ellis lost most of his scripts due to hard drive failure. After Marvel moved Ellis to new projects, the series' future was hanging in limbo for several years before its inevitable official cancellation

Jim Shooter, editor-in-chief of Marvel at the time and creator of the New Universe, went on to found another comics universe at Valiant Comics, which can be seen as having similarities to the concept.

In later years, the TV series Heroes did well with its similar concept of ordinary people in a realistic world gaining superpowers. Also, "The New U" concept is vaguely similar to the Wild Cards novels, which were launched at around the same time.

Something similar to newuniversal was started in the pages of Jonathan Hickman's Avengers with Nightmask and Star Brand appearing in the title. They are a part in the 2013 storyline Infinity, where a new White Event happens on Earth-616. They eventually got their own title, Starbrand & Nightmask. Although these characters are re-imaginings who are not directly related to the originals, there are plenty of Mythology Gags referring to the New U.

Titles in The New Universe include:

Star Brand - Kenneth Connell, a mechanic from Pittsburgh, is given vast cosmic powers by the titular Artifact of Doom. He initially attempts to use them as a genuine superhero, but that doesn't work in this kind of world. He eventually decides to get rid of his powers and lead a normal life. However, his attempt to do so results in the aforementioned destruction of Pittsburgh. It's later revealed that due to a Stable Time Loop, the White Event was caused by Connell's older self making an earlier attempt to get rid of the Star Brand. Storylines eventually explored other wielders of the Star Brand. The series lasted for 19 issues, from October, 1986 to May, 1989.

Spitfire and the Troubleshooters/Codename: Spitfire - Jennifer "Jenny" Swensen, a Hollywood Nerd girl inventor and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, develops a Powered Armor. She goes on to have adventures with a team consisting of her five prodigy engineering students. Less awesome in execution then the premise makes it sound. The title changed marks when the Troubleshooters dissolved. One was killed in battle, one permanently crippled, and the other three went into retirement. Under both formats the title lasted for 13 issues, from October, 1986 to October, 1987. Spitfire continued appearing in other books as a member of an ensemble cast, but was eventually mutated to a Chrome Champion.

DP7 - A group of patients at a clinic for newly-mutated superhumans. The series lasted for 32 issues from November, 1986 to June, 1989. There was also an Annual published.

Justice - John Tensen is a Knight Templar who thinks he's from a Magical Land. In later issues, a Retcon reveals that he's actually a DEA agent who's been under the influence of a delusion induced by one of his enemies. He takes it upon himself to judge his fellow paranormals: "If they are [using their powers properly], he leaves them in peace. If they are not, he leaves them in pieces." With his right hand ("sword hand") able to generate energy blasts of high intensity and heat and his left hand ("shield hand") generating Deflector Shields, Tensen is typically able to best his opponents. His series lasted 32 issues, from November, 1986 to June, 1989. Through a dimension-traveling adventure, Justice was later added to the world of Marvel 2099.

Kickers, Inc. - Pro football players form a superhero team. Seriously. (To be fair, only the quarterback had actual superpowers. Even then, he didn't realize he was a paranormal at first; he thought his Super Strength was the result of a machine his brother had invented.) The title was not overly successful, and its tone (light-hearted adventure a la The A-Team) did not particularly fit with the premise of the New Universe. It lasted for 12 issues, from November, 1986 to October, 1987.

Mark Hazzard: Merc - A normal mercenary with a conscience in a world of superhumans. Hazzard is a veteran of The Vietnam War, and had trouble finding work in areas not related to combat. Part of his series reflects how his mercenary career negatively reflected his marriage and had storylines involving his divorce. His self-contained story ended with his death, though the final issue was an epilogue focusing on the supporting cast. The series consisted of an Annual and 12 regular issues, running from November, 1985 to October, 1987.

Nightmask - Keith Remsen is a therapist who can enter dreams. Further applications and disturbing implications concerning his powers were explored through his appearances. His series lasted 12 issues, from November, 1986 to October, 1987. But his storyline continued in other books, with Nightmask as part of an ensemble cast.

Psi-Force - Teens with Psychic Powers, brought together by a Native AmericanCIA agent who also has Psychic Powers. The teens can combine their mental energy to create a powerful "gestalt entity" called Psi-Hawk. There were several changes in line-up and complex storylines. The series included an Annual and 32 regular issues, lasting from November, 1986 to June, 1989.

As noted, disappointing sales resulted in the cancellation of four titles (Kickers, Inc., Marc Hazzard: Merc, Nightmask and Code Name: Spitfire). The other titles continued, and Marvel also published some one-shots and mini-series set in the New U, post-Black Event:

The Pitt (March, 1988)- A one shot detailing the destruction of Pittsburgh and its aftermath.

The Draft (November, 1988) - Another one shot, in which the American military responds to the Black Event by creating an all-paranormal fighting force. There are efforts to have all available paranormals registered, accounted for, and used for military purposes. The one-shot mostly reveals the fate of some familiar faces and introduces new protagonists. Repercussions were explored in the still ongoing series.

The War (October, 1989-March, 1990)- A mini-series in which the New Universe goes to war. Will this lead to The End of the World as We Know It? Blaming the destruction of Pittsburgh on a known group of Soviet paranormals, the United States prepare for war against the Soviet Union. The first battle of World War III takes place in Africa. American paranormals are sent to assist South Africa against Cuba, in a conflict based on the historical South African Border War (1966-1989).

Alternate Company Equivalent: Star Brand's more-than-passing resemblance to Green Lantern was noted almost immediately, and became the topic of several parodies and critiques of the New Universe. After its cancellation, Jim Shooter admitted in an interview that the earliest concept behind the New Universe was to do the DC universe "Marvel-style", but it mutated along the way; by the time the books reached the stands only Star Brand — the Green Lantern expy — remained from that original idea.

In the series Legends,Green Lantern Guy Gardner battles a character called Sun Spot, who looks suspiciously similar to Ken Connell. Sunspot exclaims, "I wield the ultimate power...the power to create a New Universe!" and ends up shooting himself in the foot. This is a jab by John Byrne at Jim Shooter (see Author Avatar, below). Byrne ended up writing the end of the Star Brand comic.

Author Appeal: Writer Mark Gruenwald apparently loved his home state Wisconsin — which was the setting for much of DP7.

Author Avatar/Self-Insert Fic: It is widely believed that Jim Shooter based Ken Connell on himself, making the first seven issues of Star Brand (written by Shooter) one big Self-Insert Fic. Among the similarities between Shooter and Connell were their physical appearances (except for hair color), a hometown of Pittsburgh, and a self-centered ego. Shooter himself even admits Ken's girlfriend Debbie "the Duck" was based on an old girlfriend of his.

John Byrne inserted himself in an issue, when Starbrand attended a comic-con Byrne was in. Check Genre Savvy and Take That entries below for details.

Ax-Crazy: John Tensen, whether you're talking about the one in Justice or in newuniversal.

Betty and Veronica: Star Brand had this, with Jerkass Ken Connell mainly concerned with who he was attracted to more; mom Barbara and The Ditz Debbie "Duck" Fix. He eventually goes with the Duck, because she seems to be blindly devoted to him due to apparent self-esteem issues whereas Barbara and her kids would be in danger from the Star Brand (one of which seems to already have been altered by a Star-Brand powered Mind Screw). To be fair, Connell cements his Jerkass status by being temporarily attracted to Barbara's 15-year-old babysitter and sleeping with Anything That Moves.

Capepunk: The New U was an attempt at this genre, since it was intended to be more realistic than the mainstream Marvel Universe.

In Psi-Force, both Rodstvow and Shivowtnoeh are driven insane by their powers.

The newuniversal one-shots Conqueror and 1959 strongly suggest that whoever has the power of Justice will end up Ax-Crazy.

Comic-Book Time: Intended to be averted but it ended up Zig-Zagged. Each issue was supposed to occur in "real time" in that a month passes between issues. However, Mark Gruenwald ignored the memo. He decided that the chase story of D.P. 7 was important, so all 12 issues of the first year took place over the course of a few weeks, followed by a Time Skip to the next year as of issue 13.

Genre Savvy: Demonstrated by a comic book writerattending a convention along with Star Brand (who was at the time attempting to be a masked hero in the traditional mold). The writer methodically dismantled all the comic book tropes that Connell was depending on to demonstrate why comic book-style heroes were unrealistic and unworkable. In particular, he showed just how much identifying information he could get from physically seeing the cowled Star Brand (height, build, eye color, skin color, and the approximate size and shape of Connell's nose, among other details), which he pointed out could then be used to significantly narrow down a search of, say, driver's license records.

Andrew Chaser, who befriends Tyrone Jessup of Psi-Force and eventually writes a book about the team, Power for the Preying. He also has a memorable run-in with President Evil Philip Nolan Voigt, who threatens his elderly mother.

Mythology Gag: A number of characters large and small from the main Marvel universe are shown to have counterparts in newuniversal. To name a couple, a General Thaddeus Ross goes after the first confirmed superhuman sighting with General Ripper tendencies that equal the main universe version going after Hulk. One of the NYPD officers looking into another superhuman incident is named Manolis. NYPD Lieutenant Nick Manolis was a significant character in Daredevil: Born Again.

Averted with New Universe. Two of the people given powers by the White Event were Ronald Reagan and Ayatollah Khomeini. Several other real celebrities appear (Madonna performs at a "Pitt Aid" charity concert) or are mentioned (John Tensen tells someone that Justice is his actual first name, "like Judge Reinhold"; a character in a Nightmask story notes that someone is "deader than The Bee Gees' career!").

The unnamed President of the United States newuniversal is a woman who looks a lot like Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Parental Abandonment: Happened—violently—to the main character and his sister at the start of Nightmask.

Psychic Powers: All the major characters in Psi-Force had them. Also, Justice could tell whether other paranormals were good or evil by reading their auras.

Real Time: At least originally intended to run in this, but the end result varies. Notably when the Exiles visit New Universe, it's still 1987 in there.

The Exiles visited a counterpart to the New Universe (along with a range of other settings), one that existed in the actual Marvel Multiverse (New Universe was canonically set outside the normal multiverse).

Retcon: Used to explain away the Magical Land in Justice and the aliens in Star Brand, both of which were originally intended to be taken at face value.

Secret Identity: Attempted briefly by Ken Connell as Star Brand, until a comic book writer he met at an SF convention demonstrated how unrealistic the standard comic book version was.

Super Strength: Several paranormals had some form of it, most notably David "Mastodon" Landers from DP7.

Take That: After Jim Shooter left Marvel Comics, Ken Connell was depicted as an unrepentant Jerk Ass, a trend taken Up to Eleven in the Star Brand issues written by longtime critic John Byrne. With Ken being an Author Avatar of Shooter, this was obviously the remaining Marvel creators getting some licks in on their former boss.

Even after the title's finale it continued in a comic book of another company: In the DC Comics mini Legends, drawn by Byrne, Guy Gardner beats a villain named Sunspot, who is a transparent Expy of Star Brand. Guy doesn't even break a sweat, and Sunspot ends the fight by shooting himself in the foot while ranting about why the New Universes he tries to create keep exploding.

Marvel Comics's "Whu-huh?!", a more comical version of their "What If...?" line. Apparently, the New Universe was created when Galactus ate a bad planet and promptly shat it out.

Also averted in Star Brand because the Jerkass is friends with a therapist, but constantly ignores or runs away from his sound advice.

Averted ridiculously in DP7 since it takes place at a clinic for paranormal research. While there are a few bad apples (mostly in the upper echelons), a large chunk of the staff seem to be on the level.

And nastily subverted in The Draft and The War. Sometimes the therapist makes mistakes...

Transhuman Treachery: A major topic of Newuniversal, where that universes' version of Phil Voight thinks this applies instantly, and will take any method necessary to avert it, either not noticing or not caring that the people he's hunting are all too human. For added irony, the person he outlining this to is one of those post-humans.

Up to Eleven: Philip Nolan Voight of DP7 can duplicate any paranormal's powers, but amplified. One of the Star Brands eventually depowers him by overloading him and causing a Super Power Meltdown.

Vetinari Job Security: In Spitfire and the Troubleshooters #5, Jenny's engineer buddies try to operate the robot without her. Not only do they fail miserably, but they overheat the robot's power pack, and only the intervention of Ken "Star Brand" Connell prevents the resulting explosion from taking out downtown Boston.

"Funny Aneurysm" Moment: After he saves their butts, Connell gives the engineers a stern lecture on using their power responsibly. A few months later, Connell's attempt to get rid of his power results in the destruction of Pittsburgh. It's almost Foreshadowing, except that "The Black Event" probably hadn't been planned by the writers yet.

The Watcher: The Witness, a character who dies as a result of the White Event, but continues to exist as an intangible ghost. He is drawn to places where people are manifesting paranormal powers, but can only watch what happens, unable to intervene in any way.

You Would Make a Great Model: Kathy gets this in one issue of Psi-Force; fortunately the others get there before anything worse than being tied to a chair happens to her.

Community

Tropes HQ

TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. Privacy Policy